A detailed air-quality survey by Greenpeace inside five prominent schools across the city showed alarmingly high pollution levels. The survey inside these schools found the PM2.5 levels to be 4 times than the Indian safety limits and 10 times higher than the safety limit prescribed by the World Health Organisation.
The real-time monitoring data from all the five schools revealed particulate matter (PM2.5) to be at very unhealthy levels.
According to the World Health Organisation, air pollution impacts the most vulnerable sections of the population and children are among the worst hit.
The survey was conducted between January 23 and February 12 at the schools, including Greenfield Public School (Vivek Vihar in East Delhi), Mirambika School (Sri Aurobindo Marg in South Delhi), Delhi Police Public School (Safdarjung Enclave in South West Delhi), Salwan Public School (Rajender Nagar in Central Delhi) and American Embassy School (Chanakyapuri in South West Delhi).
The survey showed that the maximum level of PM2.5 at Greenfield Public School in Vivek Vihar on January 23 was 253.
It was 209 at the American Embassy School on February 12.
Studies by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have concluded that exposure to PM2.5 in children will mean reduced lung functioning, increase in asthma and respiratory illnesses. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified particulate matter pollution as carcinogenic to humans in 2013, and designated it as a “leading environmental cause of cancer deaths”.
The annual PM2.5 averages of Delhi are higher than that of Beijing and, this winter, Delhiites witnessed several bad air days with the air quality index averaging at critical pollution levels.
Expressing concern over the rising trend in the pollution levels, Asthma Chest and Allergy Centre director Vikram Jaggi said, “The winter of 2014 has particularly been a bad one for the asthmatics. The consistency in the smog resulted in an increased number of asthma cases for almost a period of three months.”
According to the Centre of Occupational Environment and Health director, Dr T.K. Joshi, first indicators of air pollution are felt upon the mucous membranes, eyes and nasal cavities. A common problem faced by Delhiites on a daily basis is eye irritation and watering in the eye and exposure to such high levels of pollution will mean serious health damages in the long run.
